<p>Here’s the classic litmus test for unenlightenment, as far as I’m concerned. Life is full of apparently obvious solutions to persistent societal problems (e.g., “A rule is a rule - if they’re undocumented, put them in a truck and send them back across the border.”). Unenlightened people constantly call for the “obvious” solutions to be put into effect, usually stopping to label those in leadership positions “morons” for failing to see the obvious answers. If there are people who deal with particular problems every day of their professional lives, and if they didn’t long ago jump at the apparently obvious answers, then you can be pretty sure that those “answers” are fatally flawed. A higher education, if anything, teaches one that few issues are cut-and-dried, and few significant challenges can be addressed simply without creating new challenges.</p>